Vanderbilt Divinity School names Yale administrator as next dean

Vanderbilt Divinity School has named Emilie M. Townes, a noted Yale University scholar and administrator, as the school’s next dean, pending board approval.

Townes’ scholarship involves Christian ethics and womanist theory. She is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology and associate dean of academic affairs at Yale Divinity School.

Townes will take over for James Hudnut-Beumler, who is starting a year-long sabbatical in the summer. Townes is also an ordained American Baptist clergywoman. Her official start date as the 16th Vanderbilt Divinity School dean is July 1, 2013.